Pogue to the Pac-10

When it comes to his recruitment, Aaron Pogue knows that a difficult decision will eventually have to be made. Since returning home from an unofficial visit to USC, the 6-foot-9, 290-pound center from Dunbar High School in Dayton, Ohio, appears to be one step closer to doing just that. There is no question that Pogue, the No. 142 ranked player in the class of 2007, loved everything about USC.

"I just got back from taking an unofficial visit to USC. O.J. Mayo was with me during my visit and we had a real good time," said Pogue. "I am probably going to give a commitment to USC. O.J. and I just love the idea of playing in the Pac-10 Conference. It's a beautiful life to live and O.J. and I just loved everything about the visit.

"The Pac-10 Conference is a very powerful conference to play in," he added. "You have Kevin Love going to UCLA, Spencer Hawes is at Washington, Brook Lopez and Robin Lopez are at Stanford and Chase Budinger is at Arizona. The Pac-10 Conference has a lot of great players."

It must be said that Pogue, should he decide to give an early commitment to USC, is still going to consider all of his options before signing a Letter-of-Intent.

While the three-star prospect appears to be sold on the Trojans, he made it perfectly clear that he is still very much open to all schools, and doesn't want anybody backing out of his recruitment.

Schools such as Cincinnati, Dayton, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas State, Kentucky, Louisville, Michigan State, Ohio State, Pittsburgh, Tennessee and Texas have expressed a high amount of interest in the Ohio native, so he is very much interested in giving a number of the aforementioned programs a serious look.

"You know, I am going to see what else is out there for me," said Pogue. "Illinois, Michigan State, Pittsburgh, Florida, Texas and Tennessee are the schools, off the top of my head, that I would like to visit. I can tell you that I am going to take all five visits. My cousin played football at Ohio State, so he and I have talked a lot about the recruiting process.

"My cousin told me to use all five official visits," he added. "I am probably going to take his advice and do that. I want everybody to know that I am still open to all of the schools that are recruiting me. I don't want anybody backing off of me because I am going to take some visits and look over all of my options."